Three Lives, Three Worlds - The Tale of the Fox Princess
by WickedWW
Summary: Young Bai Feng Jiu is born with a terrible destiny. Of course, she does everything in her power trying to fix it. Read about her journey towards adulthood and finding love. FJ/DH. Pillow book AU.
1. Prologue

The first granddaughter of the Fox King was born on a bloody night. It was the same night when High God Mo Yuan sacrificed himself to seal the Ghost Lord Qing Cang in the Dong Huang bell. The same night that Bai Qian's obsession with bringing her Master back to life came about. All in all, an ominous night when a red moon shined over the Four Seas and Eight Wildernesses.

However, the birth of a princess was seen as a happy sign by the fox clan. A sign of peaceful and prosperous times to come. Especially encouraging to was the phoenix flower birthmark on the Little Highnesses forehead and her bright red coat, the only in nine-tailed white fox clan.

Seven days after princesses birth immortals came to visit the fox den to witness the naming of the baby fox and give their greetings to the happy family.

When the old phoenix Zhe Yan was handed the baby princess by her proud father - Bai Yi, the second son of the Fox King, Zhe Yan attempted to look into her future. What he saw did not make him smile. Carefully holding the Little Highnesses he said to her parents:

"Being born on an ominous night will affect this child's fate. This little one will have to fight hard to find happiness in this life. I see that she will have to face many challenges to have lasting happiness. Raise her to be worthy to rule lands of Qing Qiu and don't coddle her too much. If you do it will only deepen her suffering later in life."

The princess's mother, Kumiho burst into tears. Her father had a thoughtful look on his face. Bai Zhi, the Fox King then said:

"Give her to me to raise then. Where parents spoil and coddle the children, the grandparents can be more impartial and wise. We have raised five children and know how it is done. "

Bai Yi, the little princess's father still looked thoughtful and concerned.

"I do not doubt your ability, Father, Mother" he addressed his parents "for I myself can attest to your most excellent parenting, however deciding to part with my only child so soon after her birth is not an easy decision to make."

"Let's not be too hasty," Zhe Yan then attempted to backtrack a little, " this child does not have a name still. She is a baby cub and will be so for hundreds of years. The little princess will need a solid education, strong cultivation, deep morals and most importantly the love of all her family to get through her challenges. "

"Then we will give her all of the above," Bai Yi, the little fox's father said firmly. "She will lack nothing and all the foxes in Qing Qiu will do everything to make her succeed."

"Yes, yes, that will be so " nodded the Fox King energetically. "And we will give her a good strong name. Let's call her Feng Jiu - for the phoenix flower birthmark on her forehead and her beautiful nine tails."

The Fox King personally felt that the more tails fox has, the more beautiful the fox is. And nine tails is the epitome of beauty for any spiritual animal. Just like his own, for example.

The Fox Queen smiled gently and took the little princess in her arms, then kissed her on the phoenix flower birthmark: "Welcome to the Fox Clan, my little granddaughter, my precious Bai Feng Jiu."


	2. Charming youth

Feng Jiu grew from an adorable baby to a charming toddler, that could wrap anyone around her pinky with a toothless smile. She was so clingy and so heartbreakingly cute that people often stopped to aww at her and to try to pet her.

This made her confident in her charms and she quickly learnt on how to take advantage of her cute looks.

She often ditched her caretakers by singing them lullabies with her sweet, soft voice. Her aunties and uncles and ever Mi Gu tended to fall asleep after the first 3 minutes of her singing. Little Jiu privately considered this her most powerful magic in her disposal.

She loved to sneak out to the market in Qing Qiu and play sticks with other kids. Then she would tour the stalls. Feng Jiu would go up to people selling the goods, smile, look at them with her big brown eyes and say:

"Greetings from Bai Feng Jiu, how is the business today?"

The hearts would melt and shopkeepers would turn to mush in front of their little princess. She would leave the market with pockets full of treats from locals and a cheeky smile.

Feng Jiu always aimed to return to the Fox Cave before her babysitter of the day woke up. And her escapades were generally kept quiet from her parents and grandparents as people who were tasked to look after her were often still asleep when she came back or too embarrassed to be bested by the little fox.

On one particular occasion when the fox princess was just 7,000 years old she attempted to pull this trick on her father. Everything was going as expected and Feng Jui spent the day playing with her friends and eating snacks at the market.

Upon return, she witnessed Fox Cave in an uproar. Fox King was pacing, Fox Queen was interrogating her father and Mi Gu - the two people responsible for her lessons today.

Bai Feng Jiu just wanted to melt on the floor or become invisible. But she was taught from an early age to face the challenges in life head-on and take responsibility for her actions.

The princess clenched her fists, took a deep breath and revealed herself to her family.

"Jiu Jiu!" her grandmother exclaimed, "There you are!"

"Where have you been?" Bai Yi, the second son of Fox King shouted, his spit flying into Jiu's face.

Feng Jiu shrank into herself a bit, but still attempted in her sweetest tone "Father, Jiu was just playing outside. Father was sleeping so sweetly, Jiu was scared to wake you."

Bai Yi's face changed colours rapidly from angry red to furious purple: "You, you are ... "

"Husband, let's not be upset. Little Jiu Jiu was just playing. She is still only a cub.'' Kumiho hastily came to her daughter's defence. She really did not for Bai Yi to finish that sentence. He could become stubborn and entirely unreasonable over the smallest things.

"And you did fall asleep..." she added quietly.

Bai Yi turned his glare on his wife. She chose to ignore it and carried on, now addressing Fox Queen:

"It seems like little Jiu Jiu is ready for more intense schooling as she clearly has too much energy to just stay at home all day and take her lessons."

Fox Queen grew thoughtful and approved the daughter-in-law's idea:

"Indeed, Kumiho, you are right. It's time to find a good master for Feng Jiu. She is ready to learn. Little Jiu has as much cunning and energy as my children had when they were 20,000 years old. It's our job as her elders to prepare her for the future."

And so the decision was made. Fox Queen would be looking for a master for young Bai Feng Jiu.

Jiu's uncles, aunty and Mi Gu were all silently relieved with this arrangement. They never believed themselves to be great tutors and/or babysitters. Although they all also agreed that those lovely afternoon naps would be sorely missed.

(*^_^*)

Finding a master for little Jiu was not a simple matter. The first master immortals had while young often influenced their life further on. Bai Qian and Mo Yuan's situation was the best example of what she desperately wanted to avoid.

After visiting all her friends and gathering all the latest chatter in the immortal world, the High Goddess was still wholly undecided and nowhere near a solution. So she did what women do when they are not sure - ask for advice.

This particular advisee was Queen's godmother - Nu Wa, the deity in charge of keeping the Stone of Destiny safe and registering all the immortal marriages. It's not like Fox Queen was aiming to cheat destiny, she just wanted a small nudge in the right direction. And what a nudge she got.

"Oh, don't be daft, just send the girl here," was the response she got after a carefully worded request for advice.

"I have a lot of work around this place. You know, everyone just has to get married these days. Whatever happened to all those lovely couples who just eloped or lived in sin? Now even spiritual rocks that can't talk, want to register their marriage. The world has gone crazy! Crazy, I tell you!"

Fox Queen looked around the empty temple. Only the wind blew from the East. She was used to her godmother's not very funny jokes by now. However, this was an unusual idea. She did not hate it immediately.

"And what sort of lessons would you focus on?"

"Well, I would teach her whatever is useful for survival, obviously, " Nu Wa said in a very serious tone as she looked at her goddaughter. "Feng Jiu's fate is not a joking matter."

Fox Queen paled and closed her eyes. The matter was settled.

(*^_^*)

Bai Feng Jiu was nervous. Today she would meet her new Master for the first time. Nu Wa was one of those legendary immortals that all other immortals heard about.

Her new Master was responsible for officiating all the unions between couples in Four Seas and Eight Wildernesses. Two immortals would not count as married until Nu Wa made a record of it.

Jiu's parents took her up to the entrance of the Temple of Destiny in the Nine Heavens. The family said their goodbyes on the bottom of a massive staircase that seemingly went on forever into thick clouds.

"Do us proud, Bai Feng Jiu," father gently patted her on the head. "You are a nine-tailed fox from the Bai clan, there is nothing in this world you can't achieve."

"Eat well, don't stay up too late and don't be naughty to your teacher," mother hugged Jiu with tears in her eyes.

Jiu smiled and bowed to her parents, then turned towards the stairs and started the long climb towards her new challenge.


	3. Learning is living

Feng Jiu felt that life in the Temple of Destiny was a very peculiar experience. Her Master had a unique perception of reality that impacted everything in their everyday life.

The biggest example of this was the stairs leading up to the temple. The less ready a person felt for marriage, the more steps they had to take to reach the entrance.

It took Jiu five days to reach her new home. The first time she had considered giving up was at the end of the first day. She was tired, thirsty, hungry and miserable. Turning back was so very tempting. But it was not an option for the little fox princess. Feng Jiu thought about her parents, grandparents, uncles, aunty and the people in Qing Qiu - they all believed in her. They all wished for her happiness and success. Bai Feng Jiu, the princess of the Fox Clan would not let her loved ones down. So she took a nap to regain her energy, drank the moisture gathered from clouds and carried on.

"You must really hate the idea of you getting married.''

Jiu was greeted by a red-haired High Goddess wearing a teasing smile.

"You do know I am only 7,000 years old?" little Jiu was being cheeky.

"There is a saying in the mortal world that for love, age is but a number" Nu Wa dismissed the argument as if Feng Jiu was the one being silly.

"Come, we have much to do. The third son of the Southern Sea is getting married to the youngest princess from the Eastern Bird Clan."

And that's how thousands of years of Bai Feng Jiu's life passed. Between cultivating immortal essence, learning about weaponry, swordsmanship, history, and laws of the universe, Jiu had to help to plan and attend countless immortal weddings.

The one marriage in particular that always stood out in her mind was the union between Snake Clan's oldest son, Wu Lang, and Rabbit Clan's youngest daughter, Ai Mi.

The match was not auspicious according to the matchmaker. The clans have been at each other's throats for the last 50,000. They even looked very awkward next to each other with Wu Lang being very tall and lanky and Ai Mi not even reaching his armpit.

However, none of these things mattered to the couple. When they looked at each other they saw something that no one else did. They often shared soft smiles and internal jokes and when their eyes met, the world around them just seemed to melt away. When Nu Wa asked, "So how did you find the stairs?"

"What stairs?" replied genuinely confused Ai Mi.

It was a couple that really opened Bai Feng Jiu's heart to the possibility of love in her own future. From then on it took the fox princess three and a half days to reach the Temple of Destiny. Her Master considered it to be excellent training for endurance and cultivation.

(*^_^*)

During Feng Jiu's time with High Goddess Nu Wa, she discovered a very unusual gift for fortune-telling. It first happened during the wedding of a notably frail-looking daughter from White Tiger Clan to a somewhat corpulent son of the White Demon Lord.

When the youngest Fox Clan's princess looked at the groom, she could clearly see five other women around him.

"He's going to get five concubines right after this marriage. Number three will be great friends with the bride and number four will give birth to the eldest son, " the princess blurted without thinking.

At first, the other guest dismissed Feng Jiu's prediction as a fancy coming from young and immature immortal however not only five years later the fifth concubine of the groom gave birth to a boy and the third concubine became the bride's sworn sister.

The gossip in the Nine Heavens spreads with fantastic speed. Soon all eligible young ladies and their mothers knew that apprentice of the High Goddess Nu Wa could see the future of grooms concubines.

Her schedule became especially packed as most brides-to-be asked little Jiu to discreetly check out their grooms and give them what was now known as 'The Concubine Report'.

Of course, it was not a free service. Feng Jiu often exchanged her talent for future favors, tutoring in arts and skills she was interested in or fascinating goods from the human world. This was how Bai Qian always had the newest plays from the human world without having to ever leave Qing Qiu. Jiu was a firm believer in buttering up her relatives, as you never know when one might need some good will from a family member.

The rumors about 'The Concubine Report' and Nu Wa's apprentice even reached Star Lord Si Ming who happily shared this amusing bit of gossip with Dong Hua Dijun of Tai Chen Palace, the former Emperor of Heaven, the man who united the world.

"Is this your way of telling me that you really want to get such a report done for yourself?" Dijun said to Si Ming, with a slightly amused glint in his eyes and the most bored facial expression. "I really do not mind. Your future felicity is a very important matter."

Si Ming just sighed at his Lord's acerbic wit and decided to investigate the matter on his own.

(*^_^*)

When Si Ming entered the Temple of Destiny Nu Wa eyed him crossly.

"You know that you are almost late, Si Ming."

"My apologies Goddess, I made no arrangements with you regarding my visit today," he was slightly confused.

High Goddess looked at Star-Lord as if he was daft.

"You were expected in any case. Meet Bai Feng Jiu, the granddaughter of Fox King and Princess of Qing Qiu, " Nu Wa pointed to Jiu who was engrossed in a novel from the mortal world.

The little Fox Princes quickly got up, hid the novel behind her back up and addresses their guest:

"Bai Feng Jiu greets Star Lord Si Ming."

"Oh, you two don't need to be so formal with each other, after all, you will soon become great friends," Nu Wa stated with immense confidence. Neither Si Ming nor Feng Jiu was in a mood to oppose her.

After they all sat down for tea and sweet treats, made by Jiu, of course, the High Goddess addressed a topic she was eager to discuss:

"Jiu Jiu has been with me now for more than 20,000 years. We have only another 7,000 years left together according to my agreement with the Fox Clan. Little Jiu will soon be facing her first life as a mortal. "

Bai Feng Jiu and Si Ming were both startled to hear this. After all, Jiu was only 27,000 years old. Only half-way to an age where immortals started to even consider marriage.

"It's really quite simple, Feng Jiu has an ominous destiny. To help her survive to adulthood and overcome her bad faith, she will need skills, cultivation, and strength of character. Her Clan and I will teach her all we can, even if she is a disinterested student in most disciplines. However, living through human lives will greatly help her with cultivation and character building.''

As Nu Wa was explaining all this, Si Ming was watching the little Fox Princess become sadder and somehow smaller. It seems like it was the first time she heard about her own bad faith.

"In the next 7,000 years, you will have to live through seven hundred human lives. Once every one hundred years, you will visit Si Ming in the Nine Heavens. He will write you up a nice human life, full of suffering, loneliness and general bitterness of human existence."

Star-Lord was becoming very worried upon hearing this. Even a single life in the human realm was considered a harsh punishment meant for great offenses. To send such a cute little girl to live through human sufferings for seven hundred lifetimes seemed monstrous. While it would only be around two months every hundred years, the toll it would take on the Princess was terrifying to imagine.

"It is the only way,'' stated Nu Wa calmy to Feng Jiu. "If you want to live, you must suffer through challenges. That is your fate. The only way to make it less for you in the future is to take on as much as you can now."

Now everything was becoming clearer to Si Ming. While cultivation and character building were admirable things to do, even Heavenly Emperor did not put his grandson, Crown Prince Ye Hua, though such crazy schemes. The only reason Nine-Tailed White Fox Clan would agree to this was to save a life of one of their own.

When Si Ming was leaving the Temple of Destiny, Nu Wa left him with a set of instructions:

"Feng Jiu will come to you as a fox for a year every hundred years. She will not be allowed to take human form, as I don't want the news about her condition to spread. Please prepare for her first visit in three years. I trust that will be enough time?"

Star-Lord nodded in agreement.

"There is only one strict rule you must keep regarding her human lives - absolutely no love or anything resembling it is allowed. If she takes a step in that direction, she may never make it back.''

When Star-Lord later returned to Tai Chen Palace and Dijun questioned him with the most attentive expression about how many concubines will he have in the future. Si Ming ignored his Lord's teasing and just looked sad.

He kept thinking about the meaning behind Nu Wa's words: "If she takes a step in that direction, she may never make it back. "


	4. Firsts

Three years went by almost in the blink of an eye. At last, that's how it felt to Feng Jiu.

Before going to Si Ming for her first human experience, the little Fox Princess visited her family in Qing Qiu. Eating with them, playing with them and cooking for them were such happy experiences. When seeing them all together having such joyful moments, Feng Jiu truly realised how much she loved and appreciated her family.

Every single one of them knew about what she would go through, but they never cried or worried in front of her, just shared their love with their youngest clan member and made sure this visit would carry a lot of warm memories for all involved.

Nu Wa came to pick up Feng Jiu and take her to the arranged meeting point outside the Heavenly Palace.

"This necklace will hide your human form," High Goddess put a simple leather string with a small jade attached to it around Feng Jiu's neck. The jade had 'Jiu' carved on it. Immediately she took on the form of a fox.

"We can't allow the gossip about you to spread. When the time comes for you to marry, no good families will want to offer for you, even if you pass your bad faith. And your family will lose face if you are found out here running about with Si Ming instead of learning to be a lady at home."

"Thank you, Master. But will it really be so bad if people know that I come to learn from Star-Lord Si Ming?"

"Si Ming is not the problem, his master - Dong Hua Dijun is."

Feng Jiu was puzzled. Of course, she had heard about Dong Hua Dijun in lessons and reading about his exploits in historic texts was one of her most favourite past times. She hadn't known that he was Star Lord's master.

"You see, that man is too famous for his own good. He rarely does anything interesting besides teasing and annoying others, but gossip follows him like a bad smell. He was just too dashing in his youth," at this her Master sighed almost dreamily and then continued. "Women fall in love with him all the time. So any female within his vicinity is perceived as a threat by his fan club even if she is a little girl. The best you can do is to stay out of his notice, learn your lessons with Si Ming, live a human life and come back quickly."

This account of Dong Hua Dijun made the young Princess frown. Did young immortal girls really have nothing better to do than follow around a High God who could be their great grandfather probably a few times over? How strange was the life of such carefree creatures! If only she had such leisure time.

Feng Jiu's envy towards Dijun's fan club did not linger for long, as Star-Lord Si Ming was seen approaching from a distance.

"Remember, hide your nine tails into one and pretend you can't talk. You are just a regular young fox spirit.''

With those parting words, her Master disappeared into the wind.

(*^_^*)

Feng Jiu was assigned rooms in Si Ming's courtyard in Tai Chen Palace. Her first life in the human world would start in a few days. After she would stay a full year and try to learn something useful.

According to her Master, the little Fox was a burdensome creature to teach and Nu Wa would take this opportunity to enjoy short breaks every hundred years. This year the High Goddess had arranged a tour with Bai Quin to the human world. The two of them would watch plays and drink wine to their heart's content.

The evening before her first human life was due to start the young princess was eating dinner with Si Ming.

"How do you find your rooms?" her host started the conversation politely.

"Everything is excellent, Bai Feng Jiu is grateful for your hospitality," the rooms were actually very nice. There was no reason to complain. The only thing hampering the experience was that she had to be in the fox form at all times while in Heavenly Palace. It really seemed like too much space and with little to do in it.

"Before you go to sleep tonight, drink this," the little Immortal was pointed to a bowl with liquid. "This contains water from The River of Forgetfulness. We need to ensure that you do not remember who you are in the mortal world. That would hamper you experiencing hardships. I can control human fate, but not that of self-aware immortals that are born as humans."

The Princess of Qing Qiu nodded at Star Lord's explanation.

"Don't worry, Little Highness, you will just go to sleep and wake up in two months. When you come back, you will remember your life in the Human Realm, but memories will feel hazy, like dreams."

She thanked Si Ming, drank the Water of Forgetfulness and retired for the day.

(*^_^*)

Waking up felt different this time. It was like running down a long dark corridor towards barely visible light far far away. Bai Feng Jiu struggled and cried, just to reach that light. It felt like hands made out of shadows were trying to grab her and drag her somewhere where she would never be able to return from.

At last, a little red fox opened her eyes in Tai Chen Palace. She felt wet tear tracks on her furry face. Jiu focused on breathing in and out over and over again just trying to centre her thoughts like her Master taught her. After a moment the panic passed, but the terror of dying violent death still lingered in her bones. Being a human was a horrendous experience.

Jiu got up from her bed and ran outside still feeling confused. She couldn't fully shake feelings of panic and restlessness. Her body longed for some sort of physical outlet. Running in the wild woods around Qing Qiu would have been perfect just now. She would even settle for climbing the stairs to Temple of Destiny. Anything to stop feeling this way.

Feng Jiu quickly located the biggest garden in Tai Chen Palace and started to pace between trees. Slowly her equilibrium was returning when suddenly she was violently grabbed by her collar and picked up.

All her terror came back and she screamed loud, animalistic scream.

"Well, well. What is this filthy vermin doing in Tai Chen Palace?" The offender was somewhat pretty and very richly dressed immortal female.

The young fox still screamed and wiggled trying to get out of the iron grip.

"I think I will send you to the human world to cultivate. That will teach you not to go where you are not invited. "

Feng Jiu expected such cruelty out of the worst of demons and humans, but never from Heavenly Clan. She was taken aback by malice and coldness in immortal's face.

The little fox continued to struggle and attempted to bite the person holding her. The human world was just too awful to return there so soon.

"I never knew you had such a hobby, Zhi He '' came a soft, steady voice from behind her back. "I feel like I have neglected you before. But now that I know about this, I will ask my guards to go to the wilderness and capture many helpless animal spirits for you to terrify and torture. Would you like that Zhi He? Would that make you happy?"

Jiu had stopped screaming and struggling to listen to the new voice. Her offender then turned around. Immediately she spotted the owner of the soft and steady voice. It was a man dressed in purple and white robes with long silvery-white hair. If Jiu was older, she would have thought him very handsome.

The hand holding her started to tremble. Her fox nose could smell the fear coming from her captor. This was the chance to escape! But where to go? Si Ming was nowhere in sight and she did not quite know how to get back to her rooms.

Bai Feng Jiu evaluated the man in front of her. Would he chase her? Or should she deploy different tactics all together? Decision made, she turned her head sharply and managed to bite the hand holding her. Success! Her body was free, but not yet safe. Then Bai Feng Jiu, the Princess of Fox Clan took a leap of faith.

(*^_^*)

Dong Hua Dijun, the previous ruler of Nine Heavens was resting in the shade of his favourite tree. Enjoying the slight breeze and smell of summer flowers blooming nearby, reading Buddhist sutras.

This was his time of leisure and well-deserved peace.

Suddenly his peaceful afternoon was interrupted by a loud, animalistic scream. He rose to investigate the disturbance in his garden. Dijun quickly noticed his adopted sister Zhi He holding a small red fox spirit by the collar. The things he heard coming from her mouth made him frown. Why had his sister turned out so lacking in compassion? Princess of her station should know how to behave better. He decided to check if she was simply ignorant or truly cruel.

His voice made her turn around and pale. So, Zhi He understood she was wrong and she chose to abuse those weaker than her. This was a small incident that indicated a deeper flaw in her character. Was there a way to educate her better?

While Dong Hua Dijun was musing about the best way to teach his sister a lesson, the little red fox had gotten free. The animal turned in his direction and leapt at him. Not sensing any malice, Dong Hua did nothing to avoid it and it allowed the fox to land on his right shoulder. The fox quickly tunnelled into his hair and made herself comfortable on the back of his neck, her head laying on his other shoulder. He looked like he was wearing a red fur collar made of very much alive fox.

The former Emperor of Nine Heavens felt surprised. No creature before had the gall to approach his person in such an undignified manner. But it also considerably lifted his mood as not many things in this life could catch him unaware any longer.

In the meantime, Zhi He was stuttering excuses with two pairs of dark eyes now on her person. One belonging to her adopted brother and the other to the red little fox stretched around his neck.

"Dijun, I was just dealing with an intruder... There was really nothing... nothing... And how dare this filthy animal lay its paws on you, Dijun! You should throw it out of Heaven... Teach it a lesson!"

"Really?" Dong Hua appeared thoughtful.

"Should I throw you out of Heaven, little Fox Child?" he now was talking to the fox, who upon hearing his words just covered her eyes with one paw and shook her head energetically. Dijun found this to be strangely adorable.

"You see, Zhi He, this Fox Child does not want to go," he was strangely enjoying how his adopted sister was turning paler by the minute.

"I think you should understand life from the perspective of small and vulnerable. You shall go to the human realm to live as a rabbit for one hundred human years."

Dong Hua considered this punishment truly brilliant. A chance to cultivate and a life lesson rolled into one. He was such an excellent brother.

Princess Zhi He was now crying and begging for mercy on her knees.

Dong Hua Dijjun turned around as if not seeing the spectacle she was making out of herself and walked back towards his study with a red little fox still now asleep around his neck.


	5. Skilled immortals

Feng Jiu was waking up. Something warm and soft was just by her side. She slowly stretched her limbs and opened her eyes.

She was snuggled up to an immortal that had rescued her earlier. Her back was tightly pressed to his thigh. The man then looked at her as if expecting something, his eyebrows slightly lifted.

Ah, so this was the time to play up her charm. She really couldn't get kicked out of Tai Chen Palace or her Master would make her climb the stairs for the next one hundred years.

Up and down, over and over... Truly terrifying. But it was not the right time to ponder, she needed to focus all her abilities to get out of this pickle.

The little Fox Princess made her eyes appear big and innocent and gazed into this man's orbs while mentally sending playful and happy thoughts. She added a cheeky tail wiggle to appear even cuter. Such a move would always soften her mother.

"You are adorable and you are trying to use it to your advantage," the white-haired man said, not breaking eye contact. His facial expression remained stonelike and unimpressed.

Failure!

Feng Jiu then decided to pull out her next trick. She put her front paws on his leg and nudged his hand, asking to be petted.

"You truly know no shame, do you?" The nice man was now smiling and scratching behind her ears. This moment was truly blissful. Taste of victory was sweet.

However, nothing was made to last and Little Nine's perfect win was interrupted by a loud noise. She first thought that it was thunder and got startled.

The immortal in purple robes laughed out loud.

"Shall we get us something to eat then? I am getting hungry myself. "

Truly, he was the kindest person Bai Feng Jiu has ever met.

(*^_^*)

Soon Jiu's good mood turned sour. That perfect, kind stranger was now planning to kill her. It was all a trap!

That man was cooking a fish, however, it seemed like he had no recipe in mind and was just randomly adding weird ingredients in no particular order. The odds of that fish turning out bitter was the same as the sun's rising every morning - guaranteed.

"No, stop! Don't do it, please! You will murder that fish twice,'' the little fox couldn't hold it any longer.

"Oh, so you can talk. I had thought so. Your energy feels too strong to be just a simple fox spirit."

Well, now Feng Jiu was busted. It would be ten months of going up and down the temple stairs for her. Master would show no mercy when Jiu interrupted her holiday.

But there was no use of crying over spilt milk and her stomach was still making threatening noises. Also as the saying goes 'The best defence is a good offence.'

"Pff, of course, I can talk. You better focus on not murdering that fish twice. I am really hungry. Bin that awful sauce! I will teach you how it's done properly!"

Jiu then started by explaining the best knife techniques for this type of fish. The next thing young immortal knew, she was bossing around the white-haired man and explaining all the steps in the recipe and the properties of all the ingredients that go in.

For one thing that the Fox Princess knew well, it was food. Cooking and eating was her best entertainment. She always got to taste a lot of delicacies at all the weddings she went to. Part of Jiu's policy was to make friends with the cooks and interrogate them for recipes at the end of the banquet.

Strangely enough, the man was listening attentively, following all the steps and asking insightful questions. Soon the sweet and sour fish was done and served.

(*^_^*)

This day had brought Dong Hua Dijun a lot of firsts. He did not remember any other day in the last 100,000 that was so colourful and surprising.

While eating the unexpectedly delicious sweet and sour fish he cooked, he decided to address his shameless dinner guest, who had eaten everything in her plate with the speed of a hurricane and now was lazily stretched on a pillow nearby.

"What brings you to Thai Chen Palace?" Dijun decided to get straight to the point.

"Thank you for this dinner and your kindness earlier," the Fox Child started.

"I am actually visiting with Star-Lord Si Ming. My Master bullied him into taking care of me for a short time, while Master is on holiday in the human realm."

Dong Hua nodded. That made a lot of sense. Si Ming was quite easy to convince if one took the right approach.

"And where did you learn such kitchen skills so young?" This was the question that had truly interested him. His own cooking skills were sadly lacking.

"I picked up the basics from my Honorable Mother who is excellent in the kitchen. And then I attend a lot of events with my Master. But I am too young and none of the other guests ever pay any attention to me. So I spend time with the kitchen staff. I can watch them and ask questions."

Dong Hua was surprised by the amount of sense this little Fox Child made. Truly, the people who cooked for big events must have a lot of experience and knowledge.

"I have an idea!" the little Fox interrupted his thoughts. "As you saved me earlier, I now owe you a debt."

"I don't really need anything from you." This was his default answer to excitable females.

"But what about cooking lessons?"

Dijun was unconvinced. His non-existent facial expression was back.

"I must spend another ten months here. And I have nothing fun to do here. This place is so dull! Instead, I could hang out with you and teach you some basic cooking. I am sure Si Ming will not mind," the young immortal was pleading with him.

"It seems that teaching me cooking will serve your interests more than mine. How is that repaying a debt?" Dong Hua countered.

"I haven't heard that those two things must be mutually exclusive," such cheek, form one so small. Were all young foxes so forward?

"Please, it will be fun. I promise." Those big begging eyes were now fully deployed in his direction again.

"Besides, I can tell that you are a very strong and skilled immortal. Wouldn't one more area of competence just add to your character?"

Upon hearing this, the former ruler of Nine Heavens now understood that little Fox Child did know his name and was making this offer with a pure heart. He then decided to play a little.

"Before I make a decision, can I know the name of my potential Master?"

"Well, you see, I am under orders not to reveal myself. My family and my Master tell me that I am too immature to represent our clan in Nine Heavens. So for me not to lose all chances of getting married in the future, I must come and stay here in secret. I also was told not to talk and my Master locked me in my spirit form. "

"I see." And he really did. In all his long years of life, the former emperor has never encountered such mischief in one person before. "But you chose to talk to me?"

"Food is more important that such little matters." The Fox Child's tone was very flippant. The priorities of this little glutton became even more clear to Dijun.

"But I must address you somehow." This Fox Child was not entirely dumb, just naughty, evading Dijun's questions so well.

"The character on my seal stands for Nine, so call me Jiu." The little Fox pointed to the jade on a piece of leather around her neck and smiled a cute, foxy smile.

"Nice to meet you, Jiu. I will accept your offer and learn cooking from you." Dong Hua said kindly. "But are you not curious to know the name of your saviour and future pupil?"

The little Fox became visibly embarrassed. She must have been very young indeed.

"I am sorry, what is your name, High God?"

"I am Dong Hua Dijun, the master of Tai Chen Palace."

The terrified look on Fox Child's face was oh so very satisfying to the old emperor.


	6. The true meaning of fear

Dong Hua Dijun carefully observed the little fox for the next few days. His biggest surprise so far was her reaction to his identity. The fox child was still utterly shameless yet charming little glutton, however, he could also spot clear signs of fear in her behavior.

The most amazing thing was that the Little Jiu was not afraid of him but all the women around him. When a servant girl came to his study to bring tea supplies, the little fox child always hid behind him or jumped on his neck and pretended to be his collar.

She did not fool anyone in Tai Chen Palace with this trick. All the servants knew that their Lord preferred fishing to hunting. And even if he hunted an animal to wear, it would be a legendary beast, not a little fox!

Every dinner had turned into a cooking lesson. Jiu prepared recipes for each day and Dong Hua cooked. The little fox managed to instruct, taste, comment and always eat at least two or three portions.

After dinner, the little glutton would find a pillow, make herself comfortable not far from his person and shamelessly fall asleep in minutes. The only sounds coming out of her were occasional cute little snores.

During the day time, Little Jiu would stalk him as her life depended on it. She was never more than two steps away from Dijun, especially if they left his personal study.

The master of Tai Chen Palace clearly saw that something was bothering his new little cooking instructor.

On one afternoon that was spent fishing, when the two of them were completely alone, the Emperor Lord decided to address the issue of Jiu's strange behavior.

"Little Jiu, why are you so afraid of other people in Tai Chen Palace?"

The fox was sunbathing and her eyes were closed. Her little ears twitched at the question. Then Jiu lazily opened her eyes and turned her head. The expression she made clearly was made to imply that he, Dong Hua Dijun - the previous Emperor of Nine Heavens, was being a bit dim.

"Em, Dijun... Do you really not know?"

Ding Hua continued staring at her with no expression whatsoever.

"Don't you pay attention to things around you?" the fox questioned incredulously.

Jiu was pinned down by another stare, forcing her to elaborate.

"So it's like this... Hmm... How to explain this? You know that you are a popular figure in the Nine Heavens, right?"

"Hmm."

"So, lots of immortal and immoral ladies pay attention to you. The scary, obsessive kind of attention."

Dijun nodded. If his generals were as dedicated to victory as some of those women, achieving stability in the world would have been much easier. Looking back on it, he probably should have just recruited them to his army, instead of tossing them out of his bed. Regretfully, sometimes his best ideas come a little too late.

"My Master warned me about you specifically. She said that your admirers are truly vicious and could destroy anybody who dares to come close to you."

The previous Heavenly Emperor was surprised to hear that. Nowadays he was not nearly as popular as when he ruled the Nine Heavens. And who was this Master she kept mentioning? There were not that many immortals gutsy enough to bully Si Ming into providing free childcare and then gossip about his person with said child.

"How we met was the best example," Jiu continued. "I just took a stroll in your garden and immediately my life was threatened by your passionate follower/sister. So I decided to adopt a survival strategy - stick to the strongest person around and try not to make them mad."

The little fox looked very proud of her idea. A little too proud in Dijun's opinion. Maybe he could fix it? An almost invisible smile graced Dijun's lips at his wonderful idea.

"This truly is a remarkable strategy from your side, Little Jiu. Why don't I help out you a bit?" The words Dong Hua said sounded gentle and encouraging, however, the look in his eyes did not match at all.

"From tomorrow morning I will be teaching you some battle and evasion strategy, so you can protect yourself better."

"Dijun, really you are too kind. I don't want to trouble you. Not at all. This honor is too big for me to accept." The little fox now looked truly terrified. She was shaking her head and slowly moving away from him.

"It is no bother. Consider it repayment for cooking lessons. Don't you want to grow up to be an immortal of many talents?"

(*^_^*)

"Dijun! What are you trying to teach me? The true meaning of fear!?"

It was the next morning and Bai Feng Jiu was receiving her first lesson in evasive maneuvers.

To put it simply, Dong Hua Dijun was leisurely resting in the middle of the garden, reading Buddhist sutras and shooting small fireballs with one hand. All of them were obviously targeted at Princess of Qing Qiu.

She was not in a bad shape overall and managed to avoid the majority of strikes. However, her new cooking pupil was no slouch and just picked up the pace slightly, whenever she managed to evade too many shots at once.

The fireballs did not cause a lot of pain, however, her pride hurt horribly. The fox hide protected her from any real damage. At worst her fur would be slightly singed and she would smell like wildlife barbeque for days, but the intensity of the fireballs was not for the faint of heart.

While avoiding the steam of fireballs, Feng Jiu wondered if all High Gods turn to casual sadism when they reach a certain age. Dijun has probably reached that age two or three times over by now. She must never let him and Master Nu Wa meet! It would be equal to courting death.

After two hours of this extreme exercise, the princess was truly exhausted. She feigned to the left and made a jump, landing in front of the Emperor Lord.

He stopped shooting the fireballs. Bai Feng Jiu made her most miserable face and started her charm attack.

"Dijun, I worked so hard already. Why don't we take a snack break? "

"I have all the snacks I need here," he pointed to the cakes and tea set near his lounge.

"When did this get here?" Feng Jiu was feeling crushed. That man dared to snack without her. He was more evil than all seven demon lords combined!

"About an hour ago," Dijun answered calmly, not even glancing at her as he was still reading his Buddhist sutras.

How? How did she not notice the gentle aroma of persimmon blossom cakes? Was she really so distracted? The fox's despair was becoming deeper.

"You are welcome to have some," the calm and even tone did not change, however, Emperor Lord's words immediately removed any traces of unhappiness in the little fox and replaced it with elation.

"You are the best person ever!" Bai Feng Jiu exclaimed and attacked the plate of persimmon blossom cakes, all grudges completely forgotten.

Two minutes later, when the Princess of Qing Qiu was stuffing her fifth cake down her throat, Star-Lord Si Ming approached them.

"Little Highness! I have been looking for you for a week!"

How did she completely forgot about Si Ming?


	7. Entertain your friends

The situation with Si Ming was resolved much easier than Bai Feng Jiu expected.

After listening to her over the top dramatic explanation about the dangers she encountered, while taking a simple walk, Star-Lord Si Ming seemed satisfied. He trusted Dong Hua Dijun with his charge and had no plans to resume involuntary child care services.

What Feng Jiu found truly curious was the expressions on Si Ming's face when she mentioned the cooking lessons. He went from horror to unease to relief, as her story progressed.

The one thing that Star-Lord insisted on was Feng Jiu's lessons. She had to read the scrolls assigned to her and answer questions based on her reading.

Dijun closed the matter with: "It will be taken care of," and somehow all responsibility for the Princess of Qing Qiu landed in the lap of Emperor Lord. Little Jiu personally felt that Si Ming was quite happy to be free of her and he looked like he got an unexpected win over his lord.

It's not like Little Jiu minded spending time with Dijun. She thought he was quite nice if a little peculiar at times, and clearly very bored with life.

As the Princess of Qing Qiu, she was determined to pay him back for all the kindness he showed her. She considered various ways on how to achieve this, however, the ruler of Tai Chen Palace did not seem to lack anything.

Except for entertainment? Maybe?

She lacked thumbs at the moment to do anything of significance and her magical knowledge was mostly battle and fortune-telling focused, however, she did know a few tricks that were taught by her aunty Bai Quin.

The only question was, who would be her first lucky target?

(*^_^*)

While planning her first "experience" for Dong Hua Dijun, Bai Feng Jiu met a new friend. It was especially beautiful Mu Cheng Butterfly.

The butterfly was busy escaping from a bunch of maids. Apparently she was a special pet of Princess Zhi He and she was very fond of running away from her cage.

Feng Jiu held the opinion that intelligent beings should not be held in cages unless they committed a crime. So, she naturally distracted the maids by sending a few small fireballs their way and setting one of their dresses on fire.

The maid panicked and jumped into the nearby pond. Other maids promptly forgot about chasing the butterfly and turned all their energy to rescuing their co-worker. Turned out the maid in the pond did not know how to swim!

Little Jiu congratulated herself on her successful, self-appointed mission and followed Mu Cheng Butterfly to a different courtyard.

Feng Jiu introduced herself and the two of them hit it off very quickly, even formed a fast friendship. While Butterfly could not talk, she was clearly intelligent and prone to mischief. Soon the two of them planned their first adventure together.

(*^_^*)

Dong Hua Dijun was enjoying a peaceful afternoon while savoring a cup of handpicked tea.

Tea art was something he was knowledgeable and passionate about. It was one of the little joys in his very long life. The fragrance, color and methodology of preparation greatly impacted the final result. Changing one element would completely alter the end result. At this point making tea for him was akin to meditation.

The Emperor Lord was resting with his eyes closed in a shade of silver willow and appreciating a gentle, fragrant breeze caressing his skin. Suddenly the wind changed direction slightly and picked up in strength.

When Dijun opened his eyes, he was met with a truly unforgettable sight. His household servants were running from a tornado that was as tall as an old pine tree. This wind funnel somehow was pink.

The tornado moved closer and closer to his resting place, the servants scattered all across the garden. Suddenly, the tornado stopped then raised itself high off the ground and turned into a pink peach blossom rain.

Sounds of gentle zither music started playing in the background and the previous chaos turned into a scene that would fit into any romantic play.

A little fox suddenly popped up from behind the silver willow tree.

"Do you like it?" she asked him eagerly.

"I think you have too much free time on your hands."

"So you do like! I knew it!" The Fox Child was getting more and more excited.

"It's certainly special. What motivated this display of magic?" The Emperor Lord really did not understand how must one's thought process work to come up with such a display.

"You, of course. I did it to add some variety to your life!"

Variety in life? Well, that was good motivation. Since he took in Little Jiu his life had suddenly changed from constant washed out pastels to some random blindingly colorful spots. This was something that Dijun could appreciate. No one else around him had noticed or cared about him and his wishes to such an extent. Even he himself could not see his needs as clearly as the little fox near him. Little Jiu's methods might have been unorthodox, but both reason and execution made him smile.

"Then you have succeeded."

From that day on he could frequently observe little red fox and Mu Cheng Butterfly terrorizing his staff with a variety of silly pranks. He was never a target, but all results of all this mischief were set up so he could always observe the results.

Another beautiful afternoon, when Dong Hua Dijun was playing go with Lian Song, the Third Prince of Nine Heavens, another such event occurred.

The maids all chased a little red fox who was now excellent at dogging and avoiding their attempts to capture. The tragic part was that all three maids were bald and had no eyebrows.

"So I heard that you have started raising a little fox," Lian Song began the topic cautiously.

"As you see," Dijun was not paying attention to the game anymore but enjoying the spectacle set up by Little Jiu.

"And this mischief? Does it not disturb you?" The Third Prince pointed to the bald maids.

"Why would it disturb me? My little friend tries hard to entertain me." Dijun's answer left Lian Song reeling in astonishment.

"Have you considered teaching your new friend some other hobbies? Go, perhaps? "

"Then what will be your purpose?"

And that was when Lian Song knew to give up on the topic of Dijun's newfound fox friend.

(*^_^*)

Soon the ten months of Bai Feng Jiu's stay in Nine Heavens came to an end. To celebrate her first successful visit, she begged Dijun to throw a small dinner party.

She even convinced Star-Lord Si Ming to get her some sorrowless flower petals, so she could present her sorrowless cakes to all her friends.

The attendee list was very small, just herself, Si Ming, Mu Cheng Butterfly, Dijun and Lian Song.

Those were the only people who knew she was an actual intelligent and talking being and not just a little pet fox.

"Dijun, are you showing off your cooking skills tonight?" asked Lian Song. He seemed wary of the fish served to him.

However, once he observed the gusto that Little Jiu was stuffing herself with, the Third Prince decided to take a bite. His face lost all color and he started choking immediately.

"Ah, I made your fish using the old recipe. I remember how much you liked it."

"And the other dishes?" cautiously questioned Si Ming.

"Oh, some others were made by Jiu's recipes. Some are your old favorites," Dijun smiled.

He clearly turned this dinner into a death roulette!

The only people unencumbered by Emperor Lord's cooking were, of course, Jiu and Dijun himself. The little fox had an excellent sense of smell and could tell at a first whiff what was safe to eat.

Sitting like this in Nine Heavens and having this dinner felt warm and comfortable. In Feng Jiu's mind, this feeling could only compare to a family dinner in the Fox Cave.


End file.
